My cohose and digital producer wajahat ali is here. Bringing your feedback. Chris cluy in the center of the issue. I was a husky child always wore husky pants, i wanted to play spors, sports. Tackling all of the crises, i think Mainstream Media wants to use these issues to stir the pot and attract viewers and listeners. However, i dont know how going g they are in constructive conversations. Were going oprove them wrong. Were going ohave a constructive conversation. Were going odo it. Former nfl punter made waves because of his outspoken position on gay rights. Cluy is considering suing for internal violations of the vikings into his claims, including mike prefer, made. Chris cluy joins us and al jazeera sports director Neil Scarborough. Thanks for both of you for being here. Chris, you were dismissfrom the minnesota vikings. And you are a gay rights activist. What makes you feel that is the reason for your dismissal . They wanted me to keep my punts higher and shorter because my special teams coaches told me our coverages werent very good. They wanted to cover up that deficiency by keeping my numbers down. I understood you needed to sacrifice for the team. It would keep my numbers down but it was something to sacrifice for the team. The team takes care of you. And i punted my last year with the vikings pretty much exactly the same as i had punted the previous years, and then all of a sudden, they drafted a punter in the fifth round and got rid of me. Which really didnt make sense to me. Because i had been doing exactly what they wanted me to do and no one had told me they were displeased with my performance. And so when i looked at it, the only thing that it changed from years 1 through 7 to year 8 is was that i became active in promoting samesex rights. Were there things that were said or intimated to you though in that last year when you became active that made an undeniable connection that this was the reason you were being released . Looking back they did. Again remember with hindsight its very easy to say you should have done this when this happened, because i didnt know i would be released. My special teams coach mike prefer made homophobic remarks, it was like, was he trying to get a rise out of me . Something i pointed out in the desmond article. But it was with malice in his voice, he meant them. Okay, maybe he was just having a rough year, maybe the season is getting long, whatever, lets put the season behind us. Once they drafted a punter and let me go i looked back and said you know what . There is Something Else here. Based on what i know of the nfl those action he arent consistent with everything ive alleged with the nfl. The vikings said he was an inconsistent performer. Scouts in 2012 said he didnt have a very good year in 2012. Was it possible that chris wasnt released because he wasnt performing up to par . Its hard to say. Chris can answer that better what environment he was in not just with mike prefer. Chris punted for the vikings for eight years. The average punters career was five. He was doing something right to have a career that long. At the same time he had a pretty fruitful career. But the real question for chris if he felt like an outsider, in that locker room, or building a cre shen toda crescendo to, youre not welcome here, you have to fight for your job, so the question is whether the fight was there or whether chris felt he didnt get a fair shot. Chris is not an outsider on twitter. Chris tweeted earlier, things the nfl is cool with, beating women, driving drunk. Public money for stadiums, party buses for headrests. And derek spears has push back for chris. If the quote unquote phobia is not brought to work, players should have unfavorable options and opinions. A question for chris from bonnie, why off field offenses drugs, et cetera, Baltimore Ravens running back ray rice. Please are answer bonnies question, why does the nfl deal dewith off field offenses . Thats been consistent with the nfl. If you are a star player on your team then youre allowed to get away with much more than somebody who is a fringe player or backup. Case in point with jim mersey, youre allowed to get away with more than a star player is allowed to get away with. That is reality of the nfl, there is a sliding scale of justice. That sliding scale of justice is also when you compare with what the normal people have to deal with, heavily skewed. Normally people get locked up three, five, ten years for. But okay, do Community Service slap on the wrist and youre back to playing games. We have to ask ourselves as a society do we value our entertainment that highly that were willing to overlook that kind of behavior simply because someone can run faster catch or throw a ball . Chris, neil touched on this just a minute ago. Were seeing openly gay players, michael sam, openly gay athletes theyre endorsing we get the impression that things are changing, Getting Better. Whats happening in the locker room continuum . Because you still hear stories coaches encouraging homosexual players not to be open, whats social injustice like behind closed doors in the locker rooms . Its actually Getting Better in the locker rooms from a players perspective. I dont think people realize that the neville and sports games are a Young Persons game, young people cycling in and older people cycling out. These generational things are, this is very clear in the poablg polling data. Where the problems arise in the coaching ranks or management ranks those are people who tend to be older white men and they have a very specific view on the world and until they either change their minds or cycle out of those position he then youre going to see the same positions then youre going to see the same sort of thing, until the older generation moves on then its tough to make changes. But we are making changes. All right so you know michael sam of st. Louis rams openly gay player got drafted. We asked the community does this show ashift of mainstream sensibility. Neil. Weve had a few things play over the last few months where the nba had the Donald Sterling issue and Becky Hammond was assistant coach in the league. Good news story. Well be talking about that later. N nfl, octobers issue, michael sam, no no not on my team, and tony dunge, pumping up their success and being concerned with them, coming out to say, i dont know if i would have a gay guy in my routine, taking him out of camp. Roger goodell is trying to be judge and jury, when you look at some of the other leagues it still seems like its the nee neanderthal view, be like the nba and willing to take a chance and back up the right causes. Were going to talk a little bit more the nba able to take up the cause. Up next pushing pills on the field. Why nfl athletes have filed a class action, against owners. Pushing a culture of pills. Heavily armed, combat tactics every little podunk wants their tank and their bazooka. With s. W. A. T. Raids on the rise. When it goes wrong, it goes extremely wrong. Whats the price for militarizing our police they killed evan dead faul lines, Al Jazeera Americas hard hitting. There blocking the door. Ground breaking. We have to get out of here. Truth seeking. Award winning investigative documentary series. Deadly force only on Al Jazeera America im dr. Mitch abrams, im in the stream. Welcome back. A group of retired nfl players is suing the league for allegedly supplying players with painkillers. Joining us now to discuss this out of chicago, illinois is keith van horn, a former Chicago Bears player, hes a plaintiff in the prescription abuse lawsuit against the owners. What are former nflers alleging, exactly . Basically the lawsuit were suing the nfl and you know one of the questions is why arent you suing individual teams . But the purpose of that is, the nfl, theyre the ones who have fostered this environment. And encouraged this environment. You know, get your players out on the field. Get the best product out on the field. So we can maximize our profit. Thats what the nfls all about. Maximizing profits and thats coming from the head office, you know, so thats why were suing the nfl. What does it look like from a players perspective, hibd the behind the scenes from the sidelines or in the locker room, were not talking about some prescription for i knew something was wrong but they. What . They told me that you know, they never told me, i found out about it five years later when i had an x ray done for another injury, in a similar area of the leg, and the doctor said do you know you broke this bone here . And i said you know i knew i had done something to it but they had told me that everything was fine. I mean by that time it had healed. It wasnt a displaced break, broken straight through. But you know, that was my instance. That was one injury they held they didnt tell me the truth about and i think jim mcmann one of my former teammates, he literally had a broken bone in his neck, they didnt tell him about that. Richard another team mate had a bad foot injury they didnt tell him about. They would inject him. They literally ordered a special boot because my leg was so filled with blood and so swollen, to circulate like ice cold water and pressurized the pole and pumped the blood out so i could get on the field. For two weeks i would lay on the table with my leg elevated pumping that blood out, so i could play. They would give you pills tape it up shoot it up so you could go out and play. For two, three years after that i still knew something was wrong with the leg and they said you know thats fine its just so chris a couple years difference between your time in the game and keith. What is your sense of things . Has this transitioned away or is this an embedded part of the culture in the nfl still . It looks like theyre starting to try and transition away but mainly more for liability concerns than for any real concern for the player. I know my rookie year in 2005 i tore the acl in my punting leg and the team doctors didnt tell me until the season was over. I played the last three games of the season playing with a torn acl in my leg. If you tore your acl you know you did something bad, it hurts. What are these guys thinking, are they sort of come complicit . I tore the ac l and also or the cartilage. The acl doesnt have any pain receptors. When you tear the cartilage you know you get a lot of pain. I knew something was wrong with my knee, i felt it buckle, felt it swell up, i didnt know it was a torn acl. The team doctor told me, yeah your acl is damaged, well do rehab and get you through season. The players feel they have to get out on the field because if they dont theyre going to be replaced. So as a player you dont have much choice because you know theyre constantly trying to replace you and that makes you slightly complicit in being part of it. Wanting to get back on the field. But when the alternative is losing your job there isnt much choice because you cant get an nfl job anywhere else. Like people as commodities. Chris take a listen to our community. The nfl needs an entire overhaul. Discipline is empty. Jordan says even though painkillers are bad its a physical game. Isnt it a catch 22 here . Playing through injury is part and parcel of the game, nfl players now know theyre being seen as gladiators, life is shortened to the middle or lately 50s. You were part of the Chicago Bears team, parts of the best of all time, super bowl champion, i will be playing the game but shorten life for all time. No i didnt know that. At 22 youre invincible. You dont think about those things. Again, in relation to this lawsuit, what chris has been saying is exactly true. When i played, there was no free agency. I was part of two strikes, the second strike, which in 87 which finally led to 83 collective Bargaining Agreement which brought in the first form of free agency. Prior to that the team owned your rights. You had no ability to go shop your services anywhere else. So the threat of your job was held over you. If you are not on the field somebody else is going to be on the field and youre going to lose your position. So your program to play through pain, get out there, you dont want to let your teammates down. Snars my injury, the as far as my injury, the bone broken tweant supporting bone, it was the smaller wasnt the supporting bone, it was a smaller bone but it was obviously swelling and they encourage you to get out on the field and theyll give you whatever you need to get that done. Because again, the nfl wants to maximize their profits and have the best product on the field. Keith what has the nfl done for you in terms of your Long Term Health issues, anything . No, its done nothing. Anybody pre93 is pretty much we have no medical insurance, our pension is terrible. The latest collective Bargaining Agreement is a tenyear deal which is unheard of without there is po opt out clause in there theres no opt out clause there during that deal. They created a legacy fund that addressed the pre93 players which equates to 108 a month. Thats just you add that to your pension. My pension for 13 years in the nfl is like 36,000 a year. Where does this turn around . Obviously the players are trying to create some leverage here. But does this come from the fans . Do fans have to republican . To rebel . For keith and chris look at the landscape now would you recommend somebody play in the nfl . Because players are playing in the back end of their career, seeing themselves as boxers, not as many of their mental facts, in pain faculties, even a part of the lawsuit that keiths a part of raises the question, we cant take a pill and im back on the field. The famous movie, north dallas 40, he rips his hamstring into pieces, thats part of my psyche, to allow players back on the field. Even what keith was saying, the case of the player with kidney damage, were you aware of this keith, that wait a second we shouldnt accept everything were given. Actually i will defend them in the sense of antiinflammatories. They would say we can only keep you on these two weeks we would say then take you off because it affects the kidneys. As far as antiinflammatories they were giving you warnings but in terms of muscle relaxers, narcotics injections and i was taking i played 13 years. Youre taking these things over a 13year period and you add in these antiinflammatories as well. Got to do something with your body at some point. Personally the last three and a half years ive dealt with issues that ive not gotten answers to and ive seen every kind of doctor and every specialt we can. Not getting answers. Were out of time but i so appreciate you being part of the program, chris as well, Neil Scarborough dont leave. What it means moving forward primetime news. Welcome to Al Jazeera America. Stories that impact the world, affect the nation and touch your life. Im back. Im not going anywhere this time. Only on Al Jazeera America. Now available, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. Get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. A global perspective wherever you are. The major headlines in context. Mashable says. Youll never miss the latest news they will continue looking for survivors. The potential for Energy Production is huge. No noise, no clutter, just real reporting. The new Al Jazeera America mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. Download it now ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on Al Jazeera America welcome back. Last week Becky Hammond became the first full time female assistant coach for the nba. What this signals for greater gender equality in sports leadership. The first female coach of a mens professional team in 2001, stephanie coached in the nba developmental league. Stephanie female leaders exist or sometimes entrenched in a huge number of professors i professions in the u. S. You generally have to work with that person first. So were seeing a perfect example in coach popovitch hiring becky hamed. He saw her work ethic her basketball i. Q. Shes a very smart woman. Your credentials go down your arm. Six time allstar was a perfect person for this job. The coach saw that and it was a perfect fit. What was your experience . I had a tremendous experience. Milton barnes recognized that, and the players fell right in line. No problem with insubordination or disrespecting with the players. We had a great relationship great rapport. We championship. Did you have a different standard . Of course, of course. I think most women feel that way in a lot of professions. This is a male dominated professional. Im on the broadcasting side but it is still male dominated. If i mispronounce a name god forbid, i all of a sudden dont know the game. But if a male mispronounces it is simply a mispronunciation. The hiring of Becky Hammond, a female could not mold boys into successful men. And mary says absolute nonsense. David says seems to me like hes afraid to give up the boys club. Stephanie and neil, whats your response . Women could not mold boys into men . Thats ridiculous. Teaching another person how to play the game of basketball, i was there. I was an assistant coach i had a head coach responsibility for a couple games happen to win both of them. We won the championship. The players were amazing. I think that as long as you are helping them get better and youre helping them win basketball games it doesnt mearp matter what your gender is. What a doesnt matter what your jeshed is. Men dominate in the wnba. As coaches. Stephanie maibltion a great point, but going back to the other comment last time checked it seems theres a lot of women in this world especially mothers of nba players and nfl players who have done a fine job molding their boys into fine men. The notion that women cant mold men is ridiculous. Theres women knocking it down outside of baseball and inside of basketball. I cant think of a better note to end this show on than that one. Stephanie, chris, keith, until next time waj and i will see you online. Every day across america, militarystyle raids are taking place. Local police dressed like soldiers break down doors in the hunt for drugs. This is not what we think of as police in a democratic society. This is way out of proportion
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